The NWT Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) will not disclose how much the Department of Health pays temporary doctors from outside the territory.
It's enough for one MLA to describe the situation as a "transparency issue" during what he deems a crisis, and it begs a larger discussion on the state of the NWT's healthcare system, said Robert Hawkins.
"We should know what we're paying for people," said the MLA for Yellowknife Centre.
Locums, as the temporary doctors are known, are contracted workers. On average, they come to the North to work for 12 calendar days, according to the health authority. Both Hawkins and the NTHSSA said it's becoming the more popular choice, compared to being a full-time, permanent employee.
Despite the trend, the health authority will not disclose how much money the GNWT is paying locums. It referenced a locum fee schedule that's prepared by the Department of Health and Social Services.
"The information in that fee schedule cannot be provided as it is confidential," the authority stated.
Hawkins asserted that there should be some pay-related details made public. There's no need to reveal people's names or faces, he contended, but rather what their positions pay. He referenced the 'sunshine list' SA国际影视传媒� a public list of government employees in Ontario who earn more than a certain threshold SA国际影视传媒� as an example to follow.
Practice NWT, a separate government body that assists in recruitment of health and social services professionals, previously provided some pay information on certain locums, however. In 2022, it stated that
Locums also receive an hourly Northern allowance, which ranges based on the community, according to Practice NWT. For Yellowknife, the hourly allowance is about $2, to a maximum of $3,700 per year.
Whatever the current pay rate is, NTHSSA said that recruiting physicians is arduous.
"It requires individuals who are willing to embrace the unique challenges of living and working in the North," the health authority explained. "This issue extends beyond just physicians, as there is generally a limited number of people attracted to these workplaces."
Although the authority has funding for about 81 full-time physicians SA国际影视传媒� what it called an ideal numberSA国际影视传媒� it only has about 50. The authority added it hires locum physicians to fill any service gaps.
NTHSSA said the last time it hired a full-time physician was September 2024. Since last fall, Hawkins said the territory has lost about six full-time, resident doctors.
Absence of specialists
The latest figure available, from 2023, notes there were close to 660 total doctors registered to work in the territory, but only about 50 of them lived and worked in the NWT. More recently, NTHSSA provided a chart to SA国际影视传媒 that breaks down the sparsity by the numbers.
As of Sept. 30, 2024, the authority had a headcount of zero anesthesiologists, otorhinolaryngologist, internal medicine specialists and radiologists. However, there is funding for one, two, three and two of those specialists, respectively.
The authority also has only one gynecologist on staff, but has funding for three of them.
Hawkins also mentioned that he recently participated in a round-table discussion with doctors and locums in the NWT to hear some of their frustrations. Based on what he's heard, administrative work is getting to be overwhelming for some doctors, he said.
"They said they spend a lot of time explaining their care to people who keep rejecting them," the MLA said.
In an effort to learn more about physician-related needs and frustrations in the NWT, Hawkins said he's working on an anonymous survey for doctors. When those results will be available has yet to be determined, but he said he'd share them once compiled.
Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan said there's no one, easy answer to explain the boom in locums, adding there's more monitoring to be done to make sure everyone is working to the full scope of their practice.
"Doctors should be doing doctor work as much as possible, not administrative work," she said.
Amid primary care reform in the NWT, which has been taking place for the past year or so, Morgan explained most doctors have taken on a huge, new caseload of patients.
"That caused a huge amount of paperwork and administrative work that is taking up more time than ever before," she said.
Ironically, the intention behind the reform was to improve access to a family doctor, said Morgan. But with no added doctors to the system, there's less time for doctors to see patients in the first place.
Morgan would not comment on whether there's a transparency issue regarding the authority's refusal to disclose pay information on locums, noting she hasn't looked into what should or should not be confidential.
SA国际影视传媒 reached out to Health Minister Lesa Semmler for comments about the current healthcare system, but she declined an interview.
